And the selection has also been made for the NGO. Senator. The Belize Network of NGO's board of directors has selected Janelle Chanona to continue to act as Senator as she has done since 2022.
She spoke to us today about her role as a voice for the NGO community.
Janelle Chanona, Senator for NGO's
"Well I think it's really gratitude and acknowledgement from the registered NGO's standing and really just being grateful for the opportunity to serve as their voice of power in the corridors of power because we are really trying in every way, shape and form to reiterate our commitment to cooperation, collaboration, to pooling resources, our voices and our strengths. And really making sure it pays dividends, for particularly marginalised people but certainly for Belizeans on a whole."
"Well if you remember I came in in 2022 following the resignation of the previous senator but it's really that we are committed to a good governance agenda and NGO's we have said that we are held to a certain standard as NGO's. We have been speaking this morning at length about accountability and transparency and NGO's are among those groups that are held to the highest account and responsibility and we need to see that reflected. I think that we are witnessing beyond the attacks of freedom and justice and liberty everyday perhaps on rights that we took for granted, seeing a commitment to supporting those rights and enhancing those rights, and protecting those rights moving forward, but also that to call for the type of leadership that we know we deserve and committing to working with the government of Belize and our fellow civil society partners with the wider community to make Belize the Belize we deserve as Belizeans. And to have that be something that we can always count on moving forward."
